How A United 777 Ended Up In London Stansted

You may have seen a United 777 recently parked at London Stansted Airport. No, United is not starting service to STN.

But, as part of its wider partnership with Sony Pictures, United is playing a role in the new movie Spider-Man: Far From Home.

Watch the trailer closely at 0:48:

There, you’ll see a United 777. I’m told that several United employees served as extras and that the movie will feature United’s new Polaris Business Class seat. One FA even had a line. San Francisco Flight Attendant Tammy Harris said:

It was extremely surreal. I was in my element because I was on the plane in uniform, but not really, because I’m not an actor. Hopefully, I’ll have my two seconds of fame and all will be well.

I hope she makes the cut as well!

Filming took place both in Newark (EWR) and London Stansted (STN). It isn’t clear if United flew a special service directly to STN or if it just flew from Heathrow across town to Stansted, which would have made a heck of a flight.

United took five engineers along to essentially “dismantle” the aircraft when needed by the director. LAX Aircraft Maintenance Supervisor Fernando Melendez stated:

When we parked the plane at Stanstead, there were lights and cameras surrounding us. It was like the plane was the star of the movie. Each day, we would work with the assistant director; he would go through and say, ‘Okay, for this shoot we need these seats, or these panels removed,’ so they could get the camera angles. Pretty much, the airplane was our responsibility; we opened it in the morning and closed it at night. We were the first ones there and the last ones to leave every day.

CONCLUSION

I’m not generally a big Spider-Man fan, but I’ll watch this movie just to see the United product placement. How about you?

About Author

Matthew

Matthew is an avid traveler who calls Los Angeles home. Each year he
travels more than 200,000 miles by air and has visited more than 120
countries over the last decade. Working both in the aviation industry
and as a travel consultant, Matthew has been featured in the New York
Times, Chicago Tribune, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, BBC, Fox News,
CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC, Al Jazeera, Toronto Star, and on NPR. Studying
international relations, American government, and later obtaining a
law degree, Matthew has a plethora of knowledge outside the travel
industry that leads to a unique writing perspective. He has served in
the United States Air Force, on Capitol Hill, and in the White House.
His Live and Let's Fly blog shares the latest news in the airline
industry, commentary on frequent flyer programs and promotions, and
detailed reports of his worldwide travel. His writings on
penandpassport.com offer more general musings on life from the eyes of a frequent traveler. He also founded awardexpert.com, a
highly-personalized consulting service that aids clients in the
effective use of their credit card points and frequent flyer miles.
Clients range from retirees seeking to carefully use their nest egg of
points to multinational corporations entrusting Matthew with the
direction and coordination of company travel.

In the old USSR, Russians would watch the few news footage from the West not to listen to the Soviet reporter but to see the street and cars. Same with United. I saw a James Bond film because I wanted to see the modified 747 with paired engines (like a B-52 bomber has). The paired engines were fake.